Diagrams are highly simplified figures, designed to quickly convey ideas or relationships using lines or shapes. Diagrams are particularly useful in exhibit graphics and presentations, when viewers need to quickly grasp a concept. Illustrations, by contrast, provide very realistic renderings of objects and often take more time to interpret.
The Viz Lab created a scale ladder, a diagram that can quickly convey the size of the nanoscale by showing how objects are related by size. Using existing research on how people interpret scale, the Visualization Laboratory carried out a series of experiments to develop effective scale ladders as well as guidelines for their design and use.
